Theodora (Toni) Nathalia Nathan
Humble Beginnings
In 1929, Theodora Nathalia Nathan was born in New York City to Jewish parents. She moved to Los Angeles, California and worked at an array of jobs including a music publishing firm, a decorating service, and she even owned her own insurance agency for a while. After several years in California, Nathan moved to Eugene, Oregon. There she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1971. Then, she went on to work as a radio and television producer, occasionally hosting a daily talk show on KVAL-TV. Nathan became a founder of the Libertarian Party in 1971. She is also a founder, and former president, of the Association of Libertarian Feminists.
The First
In 1972, the Libertarian Party held its first presidential nominating convention. John Hospers was nominated as the Presidential candidate and Toni Nathan was nominated to be his running mate. Although their ticket only received 3,674 official votes out of the 75 million that were cast, the event became a very important part of American history. Roger MacBride, a Republican elector of Virginia, decided to cast his vote for Hospers and Nathan instead of Nixon and Agnew. Thus, Nathan became the very first woman, not to mention Jewish person, to receive an electoral vote in a presidential election.
Afterward
In 1976, Nathan was once again nominated as a vice presidential candidate, but she lost to Jim Lewis. Nathan continued to run for official seats including United State Senate and House of Representatives throughout the 1980s and '90s. In the Oregon Senate Election of 1980 Nathan participated in debates against Bob Packwood, US Senator, and Ted Kulongowski, State Senator. Although she did not win she obtained 43,686 votes (3.83%). Later, in 1990, Nathan ran as the Libertarian candidate for Oregon's 4th congressional district's Senate seat. Her opponent was Congressman Peter DeFazio. DeFazio won, but Nathan managed to obtain 14% of the vote, 26,432 votes. At the 2012 Libertarian National Convention, Nathan announced Gary Johnson as the presidential nominee for the Libertarian party.